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Brain candy for the commute home September 13th

Today I was nicely surprised to find two articles putting head to head the theories of the great economists: Hayek and Keynes.
The first one, Bloomberg, is great journey down history lane and looks at the contribution of those two economists to economic theory. The article attempts to use the lessons from history so big mistakes can be avoided by current policy makers.

The second article, FT, uses the current debate in the US between president Obama and the Republicans and likens it to the ideological debate between Hayek and Keynes. For the very few of you not knowing yet the Obama camp is a Keynes follower while the Republicans favor Hayek and the Austrian school.

Moving on,not really related to economics but very present in today’s world is the conclusion found in the “The size and burden of mental disorders and other disorders of the brain in Europe 2010″ article, from Hans-Ulrich Wittchen from the Technical University of Dresden. Besides dealing with a volatile currency and questionable banking practices the EU citizens apparently have bigger problems.

From the abstract: ” It is estimated that each year 38.2% of the EU population suffers from a mental disorder….”

and

“In every year over a third of the total EU population suffers from mental disorders. The true size of “disorders of the brain” including neurological disorders is even considerably larger. Disorders of the brain are the largest contributor to the all cause morbidity burden as measured by DALY in the EU. No indications for increasing overall rates of mental disorders were found nor of improved care and treatment since 2005; less than one third of all cases receive any treatment, suggesting a considerable level of unmet needs. We conclude that the true size and burden of disorders of the brain in the EU was significantly underestimated in the past. Concerted priority action is needed at all levels, including substantially increased funding for basic, clinical and public health research in order to identify better strategies for improved prevention and treatment for disorders of the brain as the core health challenge of the 21st century.”